Pushing

The Father never fails to push you out of your comfort zone, it seems, but that means he really loves you. My dad, who was my coach for basketball, baseball, and soccer growing up, used to tell me something quite similar. He said that he pushed and challenged me more because I was his son, because he expected more from me and because he always knew I could do better. For a time, I thought that was an excuse for getting mad at me, but now I realize that it was because he loved me that he pushed me.

Think of the alternative: your father and/or Father doesn't expect much from you, doesn't believe that you can rise to the challenge and is content to leave you where you are. That doesn't seem much like love to me. It's apathy and it's really quite sickening when you start to think about it, but that's what passes for "love" in our lives so often. I must admit, I'm guilty of wanting to be left where I am and wanting to leave others where they are. That's not love.